The Dagger and the Ruby
by Buretsu
Summary: When a young thief steals a ruby, she gets more than she bargained for. AU Rukato
1. Episode 1: A Simple Case of Theft

Author's note:

Here's my latest work. It's an AU fic, set in a midieval town, along the lines of AD&D. This was inspired by Episode 12 of Tamers, namely Rika stabbing Harpymon in the back with a stick. As for coupling, I don't want to spoil anything just yet.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, or any of its associated characters.

* * *

She slunk through the alleys of the town where she lived and operated, just one more shadow among so many others. That was how she liked it, with nobody able to spot her unless he or she was really trying. It made it that much easier to do what she did best. She was a thief and, even if she did say so herself, a rather talented one. Her name was Rika Nonaka.

From her spot secluded in the shadows, she scanned the crowd for a mark, someone on which to ply her trade. Pickings were rather slim, as the town was not very rich, but as it lay only a short distance away from a popular trade route, there was quite often an influx of merchants stopping for the night. Fortunately, word among the local thief's guild was that there was a newcomer to the town; a merchant newly arrived just the last night. Rumor also had it that he was some sort of sorcerer only traveling disguised as a merchant. Rika laughed at these rumors, dismissing them as nonsense.

It was then that she spotted a figure moving briskly through the crowd along with several companions that Rika supposed were bodyguards, but she did not think they would present a problem. From the way the leader walked, Rika surmised that his money pouch was on his right side. Armed with this information, Rika slipped out into the town square, quickly blending in with the crowd.

Anybody who looked would just see a normal peasant girl. She looked to be about 12 or 13 years old, of medium height and slender build, mostly obscured by the rather ill fitting leather tunic and pants that she wore. Her black hair was common, but if one looked too closely, they would see her eyes, a most uncommon shade of lavender. Nobody paid her any attention, however, and she passed quickly among the crowd.

Perhaps she passed through the crowd too quickly, as she suddenly felt herself collide with someone and fell backwards onto her butt. She looked up, fear filling her eyes, and found herself staring into the face of her target, the merchant. He was at least six feet tall with piercing blue eyes and well-groomed brown hair, but his handsomeness was overshadowed by the expression of pure rage on his face.

"I… I'm so sorry!" Rika said quickly, scrambling to her feet. "I wasn't looking where I was going…" She hurriedly moved to smooth and dust off the man's robes, but he would not let her.

"Clumsy girl!" he snapped bringing his hand across his body. Rika flinched, anticipating the blow that she knew would come. This allowed her to move with the slap, and so she felt only a brief, sharp sting across her cheek. Still, the sound of it was loud enough to be convincing, and she played her part. Dutifully she lay sprawled on the ground, as if she had been hit full force. Rika wrenched her face into a grimace and sped off without another sound. She could here the merchant admonishing his guards. "What do I pay you for?!"

The crowd paid little attention to the incident, feeling only the briefest sympathy for the girl before going about their usual business. Nobody noticed when she flitted back into the alleyway, silently laughing at her good fortune. From a small pocket sewn to the inside of her tunic, she pulled out the prize she had obtained from the gentleman. While she would have preferred coins, the ruby she had stolen was valuable enough. It was about as large as her thumb, and even her inexperienced eyes could tell its worth. She tossed it into the air and caught it again several times, smiling as the sparse sunlight caught and reflected in its many facets. With any luck, the merchant would not notice it was missing until it was too late. Even if he did notice, there was little chance he would be able to find her.

She knew the usual routine. If he discovered it missing, he would talk to the guards and they would, in turn speak to the leader of the local thief guild. As Rika was a member in good standing of the guild, the leader would be unable, or rather, unwilling, to provide any information. The merchant would curse his luck, and the thief who stole from him, but as long as Rika stayed mostly hidden until he left town, he could do nothing else. Rika gave the ruby one final toss before returning it to her secret pocket.

She was so pleased with her theft that she decided to treat herself. Her 'clumsy girl' routine seemed to work, so as she left she tripped, knocking over a display of apples from a vendor's cart. She apologized profusely and had started to help pick up the apples when the shopkeeper shooed her away, not noticing that he now had two fewer fruits than before. Rika made her way to the small hill that overlooked the town, wiped one of the apples off on her shirt and bit into it, enjoying the flavor. It was on this hill that she spent the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

Back in the town, the merchant and his entourage returned to the hotel that they were staying in, having completed what they had set out to do in the town. The merchant dismissed his bodyguards and crossed the room, opening the cabinet in one corner. From this, he removed a parcel that he had arranged to come just prior to his arrival in town. It was almost as tall as he was, and it was obscured by a blanket. He removed the blanket and checked the mirror's surface for damage. It was oddly clouded, but there was no damage. Double-checking that nobody else was around, he stood proudly in front of the mirror and spoke several odd syllables. Almost immediately, the cloudy surface of the mirror cleared up.

However, instead of showing the merchant's reflection, it showed evil red eyes framed by a face that was most definitely not human. "What news have you, Ryo?"

"The preparations are nearly complete, my lord," Ryo bowed. "I was able to obtain the final ingredients in this town, just as you foresaw."

"Most excellent," the demon, for that was all that the figure in the mirror could be, answered. "Nobody has recognized you?"

Ryo chuckled, a truly mirthless sound. "No, my lord. Rest assured that none have recognized me as anything but a merchant." It disgusted him, being forced to assume the identity of a merchant, a man to whom money meant power. Ryo, however, knew that true power lay elsewhere.

"And, what of the other matter? Has the nuisance been removed?"

"He has, my lord. He put up a fierce fight right to the end, but not even his skill with a blade could overcome our sheer number."

"And what of his weapon?"

"Lost to the ages," Ryo smirked. "Never to be seen again. Now, nothing and no one can interfere with your glorious resurrection! With this ruby, I…" Shock spread quickly across Ryo's face as he felt within his robes for the gem, but failed to find it. "No!"

"Where is the ruby?" the demon demanded.

"M- My lord!" Ryo stammered, nervously backing away from the magic mirror. "This cannot be! The ruby is missing!"

"What is the meaning of this?" the demon raged. "Are you such a fool that you dare risk my wrath by letting the ruby out of your possession?!"

"I would never do such a thing, my lord!" Ryo said, dropping to his knees. "I swear I had it on me the whole time! Unless…"

"Unless?"

The shock and fear on Ryo's face immediately vanished, replaced with uncontrollable rage. "A young girl… She bumped into me… That little thief must have stolen the ruby!" He looked back up at the demon in the mirror. "My lord… I humbly beg your forgiveness and I assure you, I will retrieve the ruby!"

"You had better," the demon replied, "Else you shall feel my wrath, and suffer in eternal hellfire!"

"It will be done," Ryo pledged, rising to his feet once again. "The day of your resurrection is upon us. This I swear."

"Mark you well. There is one week until the planets reach the necessary alignment. If we do not complete the ritual at that time, I must wait yet another thousand years. But you will not last past the day." With that, the demon disappeared, the surface of the mirror growing cloudy once again.

Once more, Ryo stood in front of the mirror and spoke more bizarre syllables. This time the glass grew dark, and three dark shapes stepped out from the surface. They formed themselves into the shapes of men and kneeled before Ryo. Sneering, Ryo outlined exactly what he wanted them to do. When he was done, the three beings faded from the room, melting into the shadows.

Ryo laughed as he remembered her face, her eyes full of fear, fake as he realized it must have been. But soon, soon the fear in them would be true, the fear of pain, despair and death. Yes, he would bring fear to those damned lavender eyes…

* * *

Rika slowly opened her eyes and quickly realized that she had fallen asleep on the warm grass. She stretched, loosening muscles slightly stiff from lack of use. The sun was sinking low in the sky, signaling the beginning of the evening. She got quickly up into a sitting position and was about to head back into the city when she was a peculiar sight. Lying next to her, there on the grass, was a fox, its head resting on its paws.

"I see you thought it was a good resting spot too," Rika said, smiling at the animal. She looked the creature over, noting with surprise that its fur, rather than brown or red was a dull shade of gold. "How unusual… I'd be careful," she told it. "Some noblewoman might decide your fur'd make a fine ornament."

The fox got to its feet, yawning and stretching as well. It looked up at Rika and barked once, but did not move from the spot. Rika smiled in wonder and then remembered something. She reached into her tunic and pulled out the remaining apple. Slowly, she bent down and placed it on the ground at your feet. "Here, take it. I already had one."

Rika turned and walked back towards town, but stopped to look back at the fox. It sniffed at the apple carefully before looking up at Rika and barking once again. Rika could almost imagine that it had just said, "Thank you." Waving, Rika continued her walk into town.

The first thing she noticed was that place seemed strangely quiet, as though something were wrong. Rika paused, kneeling to pull out the dagger hidden in her boot just in case. Cautiously, she crept through the main alley, sticking to the shadows and pulling her steps to make as little noise as possible. She barely managed to stifle a yelp of surprise as she felt something grab a hold of her ankle and turned, raising the dagger to strike. She froze as she saw that the arm belonged to a friend of hers.

"Jeri," Rika said quietly, kneeling down next to the girl. Her mouth opened in a silent cry of alarm as she saw the blood covering the other girl's clothes and body. "My god! What the hell happened?"

"It… it… was horrible!" Jeri managed to say. "They're… dead! They're all dead!"

"Slow down," Rika said, her calm tone belying her nervousness. "What happened? Who's dead?"

"I- I was at the guild hall," Jeri stammered, "but then… these three men dressed as guards burst into the place! They said that something important had been stolen from some merchant, and wanted to know where it was. The guild master, of course, said that he didn't know anything. But… they wouldn't accept no for an answer… He still refused and then… they…"

"What? What happened?"

"They killed him! The leader just drove his sword into the guild master's chest! The other thieves tried to fight back, but… Oh god, Rika, it was a slaughter! They killed everyone… everyone! I… barely managed to survive by hiding under the dead bodies… You have to get out of here, Rika!" Jeri said desperately. "You… You're the one they're looking for!"

"For me? How do you know?"

"They said… They said they were looking for a young girl with purple eyes… So, please… Run away… As far as you can…"

"What about you?" Rika asked. "I'm not going to leave you behind!"

"Just go," Jeri insisted. "I'll… hide. With any luck, they won't find me…"

"All right," Rika replied in resignation. "Just… stay alive…"

A noise at the far end of the alley caught Rika's attention, and she saw the shadow of a figure enter and advance quickly. He was dressed in the uniform of one of the town guards, but his sword was already drawn and bloodied. He looked from the prone Jeri up to Rika and back again.

"Hey, you bastard," Rika yelled. "I'm the one you want! Come get me!" With that, she was off, dashing down the alley. The man paused for a second, looking at Jeri's cowering form long enough to see that she was not the one he was looking for. That done, he charged headlong down the alley after Rika.

Inwardly, Rika breathed a sigh of relief that Jeri would be safe but never paused in her running. Another shadowy figure appeared out of an alley in front of her, so she veered off down another path. She quickly cursed her luck as it turned out to be a dead end as the alley widened out into a larger courtyard between several of the buildings. Rika cursed loudly at how easily they had managed to trap her. Desperately she looked around, trying to find a way out, but there was not one besides the mouth of the alley behind her. That route was quickly blocked as the false guard with the bloody sword appeared, silhouetted in shadow. Soon he was joined by his two companions, and The swords and uniforms of all three were splattered with blood.

Their faces showed no trace of emotion as Rika backed up as far as she could. She felt her back press against the cool, rough stone of the building. She knew that she would never be able to defeat three trained swordsman with just a single dagger. Deciding that she would at least take one or more of them with her, she whipped her arm back, launching the dagger. She watched with some measure of grim pleasure as it flew through the air, imbedding itself in the leader's throat. He fell backward, choking for breath, trying in vain to dislodge the weapon.

'That's it,' Rika thought. 'It's over. At least I took one of them with me…'

Her last happy thought died quickly as the man with the dagger in his neck regained his balance and kept coming, his face showing no trace of pain and still no emotion.

"What the… hell are they?" Rika wondered aloud, pressing herself against the wall. It was then that she heard a strange cry and looked up to see the fox from earlier leap from the building, landing right onto the face of one of the men. It scratched and clawed for several seconds before jumping to the next man before the first could grab it. Finally, it jumped down and crouched protectively in front of Rika, growling loudly at the fake guards. They stopped in what must have been surprised but they quickly restarted their advance.

"What are you doing?" Rika asked the fox. "Get out of…"

Her words were cut off coming out of her mouth as the fox's body started to shimmer. Before her shocked eyes, the animal began to change, gradually turning humanoid. The fox's muzzle fell backwards, revealing a human head, and that the entire skin was, in fact, some sort of cloak around a woman's body. The false guards took several steps backwards as if they were confused, a feeling that Rika shared in. "What… Who… are you?"

"No time for questions!" the woman replied, reaching into a pouch on her belt. Rika could not quite make out what she was saying under her breath, but she finished it with a loud cry of, "Disperse!" Rays of light streaked from her open hand, leaving large cuts across the guards and sending them sprawling backwards. They moaned and yet did not bleed, despite the fresh lines that scored their bodies.. "C'mon!" the strange woman said to Rika, grabbing her around the waist.

"Wait, what?" Rika asked. However, before she could get an answer, the woman crouched and leapt several feet straight up to land on the roof of the building. Rika did not have time to protest as the woman sprinted lightly across the roofs of the town, carrying her effortlessly and crossing from building to building. After one final leap, she landed back on the hill outside town, carefully setting Rika back on her feet.

"We have to get as far away as we can. They'll recover soon and come after us." Grabbing Rika's arm, the strange woman turned to leave but Rika stubbornly held her ground.

"I'm not going anywhere! Not until I get some explanations, at least! Like, what were those things? Why were they after me? Who are you? Why are you after me?"

"All right," the woman sighed. "I see you're too stubborn to move until I tell you something. Those men were not human, they were a form of lesser demon, shadow spawn, and they want you for the same reason that I do. You stole something from their master and now they want it back."

"You mean," Rika said, pulling out the ruby she had taken earlier, "this, don't you?"

"Exactly. What it is and who their master is isn't as important right now as getting as far away from here as possible."

"In that case," Rika said, tossing the ruby to the startled woman, "you take it. You seem to be able to handle those things just fine, so I'll just leave you to it."

"That wouldn't work," she replied. "Their orders are not only to get the ruby back, but to kill you as well. Their master, and in turn his master, are very angry that you stole it from them. The only way you could possibly survive is to come with me, now." She tossed the gem back to Rika who reluctantly returned it to her pocket.

"All right," she said. "But, you owe me a full explanation later."

"It's a deal," the woman answered. "My name is Renea, by the way."

"And I'm Rika." She paused for a few seconds, looking back at the only place she had known as home and sadly closed her eyes. With one final, silent farewell, Rika nodded to Renea and the two of them were off, leaving the town quickly behind.


	2. Episode 2: Flight from the City

Ryo paced impatiently in his room, waiting for word from the demons he sent after the girl. They should have returned a long time ago with both the ruby and proof of the young thief's death. Just as he was about to lose patience all together, the clouds on the magic mirror began to roil and move. One of his minions stepped through, kneeling in front of Ryo, still disguised as a guardsman.

"Well, it's about time," Ryo said. "Do you have the ruby?"

"I do not," the shadow spawn reported. "The girl who carries it has escaped us. The others pursue."

"What?" Ryo raged. "You failed to kill one little brat?"

"She had help," the demon replied. "A fox which turned into a woman. She injured us and fled with the girl."

"So…" Ryo sneers, "That's how it is… That woman would show up now…"

"Your orders?"

"Yes," Ryo smiled. "Continue to pursue but do not attack. There is only one place she would go… It's there that we'll attack."

"I understand." The demon stepped backwards and passed through the mirror once again.

"So, Renea, our paths cross once more…"

* * *

All through the night Renea and Rika ran, avoiding the main road as much as possible, pausing only long enough for Rika to catch her breath now and then. Renea hardly seemed to tire at all, Rika noticed, and there was rarely more than a faint sheen of sweat on her forehead. Rika would have asked the woman about it, but there was rarely time for words with the pace they were setting.

As the first rays of the rising sun became visible on the horizon, Rika realized just how long they had been running and how long it had been since she had gotten any serious rest. Her body, armed with this new information, decided that it had gone long enough, and Rika stumbled, barely managing to catch a nearby tree. She leaned against it for support, breathing heavily. "I don't know," she gasped, "how much longer I can keep going."

Renea nodded and looked towards the rising sun, judging the time by its position. "All right," she said, "we camp here for the day. We leave as soon as the sun starts to set."

Rika gratefully slumped to her knees at the base of the tree. "Think I could get that full story now?"

"Of course," Renea nodded. "It all began many years ago, a little before you were born, maybe. There was a powerful sorcerer named Ryo, a great and kind man. He was devoted to the study of magic, trying to better himself. It was then that he began to study methods of protecting against and fighting demons, powerful evil beings from another plane, another level of existence. He devised several powerful protection spells and wanted a chance to try them out. To that end, he began the lengthy process to summon a minor demon, one that he could defeat if the protections did not work. Unfortunately for him and the rest of us, there was a flaw in his summoning. It was a minor flaw, but when you are working with demons, even a minor flaw can be disastrous.

"In stead of calling forth a minor demon, a demon lord took notice of the spell and came for Ryo. The protections were enough to keep it from entering our world physically, but its essence reached through and took hold of Ryo. The powerful and evil mind exerted control over Ryo's, twisting him to the side of darkness. The demon lord now had an arm in our world, a tool he could use to complete his resurrection in this place."

"Resurrection?" Rika repeated. "Then he's been here before?"

"Yes," Renea nodded. "Very rarely, the planets come into perfect alignment, and at that time a ritual can be performed using the ruby that will allow the door from his world to ours to be opened. The last time it occurred, the demon was eventually banished back to his world before he could take his full form and power here. Since then, he has waited for the chance to come back to our world. He has been a long time waiting, as the required alignment happens merely once a millennium. The next time it will happen is only about seven days away. For Ryo and the demon, time is of the essence. That is why they will stop at nothing to get their hands on the ruby."

"So, what's your story?" Rika asked. "What was with the whole fox thing, and how did you stop those guys back there?"

"I," Renea replied, "am a monk. My clan has, for thousands of years, protected the ruby you now hold. To that end, we have entered into a communion with nature. This communion allows us to call upon the power of life and the natural world, and use it to defeat evil. This cloak I wear is one such gift. It allows me to assume the form of a fox, granting the power of stealth and disguise. What you saw me do back there was another of the abilities we can use. It allows us to take any normal pebble or stone and turn it into a razor sharp projectile, harder than even the strongest diamond. It is my duty to recover and safeguard the ruby, preventing it from being used to further the cause of evil."

"I suppose I made that mission harder," Rika frowned.

"Not exactly," Renea responded. "Another facet of my mission is to gather companions for the fight. Even if the ruby is not used, the proximity of the demon to our world will allow him to exert great influence. He will fully infect Ryo with his evil, granting him power far beyond any he has ever known, making him nearly impossible to defeat. We must either free Ryo from the demon's clutches… or kill him… before that can happen."

For a second, Rika saw a look of sadness pass across Renea's face as she mentioned killing Ryo, and she began to wonder if there was not more to the story. A yawn interrupted her thought process and she found herself unable to keep her eyes open.

"Rest now," Renea told her. "The demons that hunt us are creatures of darkness. Their powers wane as the sun rises, so they will not risk being out during the day."

Nodding, Rika rested her head, curling up on the shady grass and getting what sleep she could between restless dreams of pursuit and visions of the now dead thieves, shadow spawn hanging over them, swords bloody.

* * *

When Rika woke up, the sun was already low in the after noon sky. Rika got to her feet quickly, looking around for Renea. The monk was out of sight, but her fox cloak was still folded up on the other side of what appeared to be a burnt out fire. Stuck on a spit in the ground were the cooked remains of about half a rabbit. Rika's stomach growled, reminding her that the last thing she had eaten was an apple the other day. To this end, she pulled the rabbit from the spit, and peeled the meat off its bones. She began to eat in silence, reflecting on recent events.

It was then that the full reality of her situation came to her. Nearly everyone she had ever known and cared about was dead and she was forced to flee from the only home she had ever known. All of that was simply for the ruby that she had stolen from the man she thought was a merchant. If only she had not stolen it, none of it would have ever happened. All of her fellow members of the thieves' guild would still be alive. It was all her fault…

Mentally, Rika kicked herself for thinking like that. What was done was done, and no amount of regret would bring them back. The only thing that she could do was move on and put the past behind her. She licked some juice from the rabbit off her fingers, checking one last time that none of the meat would go to waste. It was then that Renea stepped into the clearing, carrying a pair of skins.

"I see you're awake," Renea said, tossing one of the skins to Rika. She opened it, drinking deeply of the cool spring water inside. Noting what remained of the rabbit, Renea added, "And I see you've eaten. Well, then, it's time we get going."

"Right," Rika nodded, getting to her feet. "If you'll excuse me for a second…"

"Of course."

While Renea packed up the remainder of the supplies, Rika walked a distance away. When she returned, the two of them once again set off towards wherever they were going. The only things that marked their former campsite was a black patch on the ground from the fire and a small mound of dirt with two sticks lashed into a cross emerging from it. It was a memorial to both Rika's fallen comrades, and the old life she had now given up.

* * *

Rika and Renea continued on their journey, but the girl was surprised to note that they were not going at the same pace as they had the previous day. Instead of a ground-eating run, their pace had slowed to a brisk jog. They continued at this clip for the better part of an hour before Rika asked a question.

"You're not slowing down on my account, are you?"

"I am not," Renea replied. "First, we covered quite a bit of ground last night. Second, there is still too much light for the shadow spawn chasing us to be active. And, lastly, we're getting closer to our destination."

"And what would that be?"

"We're going to see an old friend of mine. His estate is not far from here, and he should be of great assistance on our quest."

Several hours later, the sun was waning in sky and, as the two of them crested a ridge, Rika was able to see a large house in the countryside. It was as large as some of the taller buildings where she had lived, made of stone with a wide thatched roof. As they got closer, Rika could see more details, such as that there was not a light coming from the house, and that the front door was slightly ajar. Rika pointed these out to Renea, and the monk nodded, replying in a hushed voice.

"Something's not right. Stay quiet."

Instinctively, Rika dropped into a low crouch, hand reaching to her boot, but not finding the knife she usually had there. As silently as she could Rika cursed, remembering that she had last seen her best dagger in the throat of one of the false guards. Cautiously, the two of them crept closer to the house, neither detecting anybody nearby. "Here," Renea said softly, pressing something into Rika's palm. The girl recognized it as a dagger and, out of habit, tested its weight. It was balanced to be thrown, although it would be a serviceable melee weapon as well.

"Thanks…"

As they crossed onto the grounds of the estate, Renea stopped, crouching even lower to inspect the ground, lightly brushing her fingertips across the dirt. "There's been a battle here," she reported in a low hiss. "A large one too. Many died."

"But there's no blood."

"Their kind doesn't bleed…"

Rika gulped, tightening her grip on the dagger. Demon spawn. She did not know what use the weapon would be, considering that her own had been ineffective. Still, the familiar weight of a dagger was a comforting presence in her hand as they crept up to the front door. Carefully, Renea opened the door… and immediately was forced to duck quickly backwards as the gleam of a sword thrust from the darkness. Rika brought her dagger up to strike or throw, but she froze as she saw what came from the doorway next.

Much to her surprise it was a young man, roughly the same age as her, she estimated. He was rather tall for his age, with a head of unruly brown hair and eyes to match. His eyes were slightly bloodshot as if he had not gotten any sleep in days. His face twisted into a fierce scowl as he continued to swing a gleaming long sword. Unsure what to do, Rika could only watch as Renea dodged the boy's wild attacks.

"I… I'll kill you!" the boy howled, launching another swing. Renea managed to dodge that strike as well, although Rika noticed that the blade had come quite close to actually connecting.

"Why?" Renea asked calmly, as the errant stroke caused the boy's sword to lodge slightly in the ground. "Why will you kill us?"

"W… why? Because you're my enemy!" Wrenching the sword from the ground, the boy charged forward bringing the sword down in a gleaming arc at Renea's head.

With a startled grunt, Renea ducked backwards. "If… I was you enemy, would I be able to…" As the sword came down, Renea caught and held it between her hands, "Do this?"

"O-of could you would!" the boy snarled, trying to wrench the sword out of Renea's hands. Rika noticed that Renea was oddly surprised by this as the monk forced the sword down, trapping it between her hand and thigh.

Renea placed her palm on the blade of the sword, grimaced slightly and jerked her hand away revealing a thin smear of blood. "How about this?"

It was only then that the boy relaxed his stance slightly. "You… you're not one of them?"

"We are not," Renea nodded, indicating Rika as well. "Now, will you put down that sword before you hurt us?" The boy nodded, slumping noticeably and sheathed his sword in the leather scabbard at his hip. Rika breathed a sigh of relief, sliding the dagger that Renea had given her into her boot. "Good. Now let us head inside."

Inside, the house was in a state of disarray as if everything had been suddenly interrupted. Food was still on the dining table, although the flies had since claimed it as their own. The three of them sat, the boy cautiously laying his sword in front of him, at rest yet still at easy reach.

"I am Renea," the monk introduced herself. "And this is Rika, my traveling companion. Master Gerant was an old friend of mine and I came here to meet up with him. What… has transpired here?"

"I am Takato. Master Gerant… He… he's dead," the boy answered, hanging his head sadly. A matching wave of sadness briefly passed across Renea's face, but her face was once again a calm mask. "Killed by… those things. There must have been a dozen of them… He gave me that weapon and told me to escape at all costs. When I came back out several hours later, I found only his corpse…" Takato trembled as he spoke, due more to anger than fear.

"I… see," Renea said finally, seeming equally sad at the news. "I'm sorry for your loss… How exactly did you know Master Gerant?"

"I was his squire," Takato, replied. "Three or four seasons ago, he came to our village, looking for a young man for that reason. It was my honor to be chosen by him. I've lived here with him since then, receiving his training."

"You showed some noticeable skill with the sword when you fought me. Now I see where you came by it." Despite his disheveled appearance, a hit of pride came to Takato's weary face. "And that is the sword he gave to you?" Renea continued, indicating the weapon on the table. "May I see it?"

Takato nodded, handing the sword, sheath and all, to Renea. The monk drew the sword a hand's width, examining the base of the blade. Takato pounded the table angrily, causing the few remaining dishes to jump. "Damn it!" Tears began to form at the corners of his eyes as he spoke. "I should have fought! If I had…"

"You would only have died!" Renea replied sharply, snapping the sword all the way into the sheath. "Against that number, two would have been no better off than just one! Those things were demon spawn, creatures of pure hatred and evil. Even the most skilled swordsman in the world wouldn't have been enough of an advantage."

Takato opened his mouth as if to say something, but quickly shut it again, resigned to silence and nodding glumly. His mouth opened again, but it turned into a large yawn that he tried unsuccessfully to stifle.

"You should rest," Renea told him, noticing the yawn. "We will stay here for now, so sleep well." Her tone brooked no arguments, so Takato only grumbled as he headed towards the rooms in the back of the house.

"So, what do you think?" Rika asked after Takato had left.

"He tells nothing but truth," Renea told her, drawing the sword. She cast an appraising eye over the sword that Takato had wielded only a short time ago. Rika could see nothing special about it other than it would have fetched a fair price to the right buyer. "This means that this place is not safe. Ryo knows that I would seek the assistance of Master Gerant so he surely expects me to be here. When night falls, we will come under attack. Maybe half of the force that slew Gerant survives, and they will be augmented by the three that chase us."

Rika counted it off on her fingers quickly. Six or seven from before plus the three… "Nine or ten? How are we supposed to fight that many. If this Gerant couldn't defeat that many, what makes you think that you can?" Realizing that her comment had come off as rude, Rika faltered. "I… I mean…"

"It is all right," Renea smiled softly. "I will be counting on your and Takato's help. Together, the three of us should prove able. I had not the chance to tell you this yet, but the dagger you now hold is enchanted."

"It is?" Rika asked, incredulously. She pulled it out again and examined it but it still looked like an ordinary dagger.

"Yes. Not only does it possess the power to destroy the demon spawn, but it will also magically return to hand once it is thrown."

Rika looked at the dagger with a newfound respect for the weapon, and the realization that, with it, she could get some measure of revenge against those who had slaughtered her comrades. She tightened her grip on the dagger briefly, but quickly returned it to her boot.

"As for the sword that young Takato wields," Renea continued, "I will not say much of it yet, but it too holds the power to destroy the demon spawn. Now, let us use what time we have available to us to prepare for the coming battle."


End file.
